You've certainly had some varied roles since you finished the Princess Diaries...
When Prince William didn't get the hint I just decided that I'd have to become an actress and support myself. So that's why I started doing more varied roles. No it was always my intention to be an actress and not the Princess of Genovia. Now my rule of thumb is no tiaras and always do the opposite of the last thing you did.

Did you have to do a lot of research to play Jane Austen?
I moved to England for a month before we actually started filming. I worked on the accent and did all this historical research about the period. We read her letters and I had to learn to play the piano, learn sign language and learn to do calligraphy. And become an all round accomplished person. So the skills portion on my resume greatly improved.

Was the dancing very challenging?
Well, nowadays all you have to do is shake your butt and you're a good dancer.

Your character ages during the film. Wasn't it a shock to look at yourself as a middle aged woman?
I put down the whisky that day. It sort of inspires you to go to yoga and eat your vegetables. Jane Austen was 41 when she died. So we didn't want to make her look really really old. But it's important to remember the lifestyle was very different back then. There was very little 'convenience' so people aged a bit faster.

You filmed in Ireland. Weren't you freezing in all those flimsy dresses?
When you've been in a field for five hours you try to say your lines and your jaw's frozen shut. So I just sounded drunk in a lot of scenes.

Your English accent is amazing in the film. Did you have to keep it up off-camera?
The only person I broke it for was my boyfriend. He said, 'It's bad enough I can't see you but I can't even hear your voice. Can you please just sound like you for five minutes?' It was the first time ever in my career that I pretty much stayed in character the whole time. I alienated myself from my friends and turned off my cell phone and just really stopped being myself for two months. And everyone liked me much better, which was worrying.

It's becoming a bit of a trend for Americans to play Brits...
There are two trends. American's playing Brits and American actresses having babies. And I decided to go for one and not the other.

Was it a real culture shock transporting yourself back to Austen's era?
We live in a very loud time right now. But I will take loud and free over sedate and oppressed any day.

Were you worried about the reaction from the Austen enthusiasts?
About a month after we wrapped I started having panic attacks when I slept. Bad dreams about being chased around and stabbed to death by Jane Austen with quills. It really would have broken my heart to have messed this one up.

I heard director Ange Lee gave you some inspiration for the role...
In the middle of the Golden Globes he taught me how to curtsy. Which was nice because there was George Clooney looking on.

Is there anything you're going to take away from this experience?
Yes. Besides reintroducing in to my vocabulary the word bosom, which is lovely. When I went to the British Library I studied Jane Austen's letters to see what her hand-writing was like. She makes her 'd's in a very specific way. So now whenever I write I have to do sweeping 'd's. That's the part of Jane that stayed with me.

'Becoming Jane' is released in the UK on 9 March 2007.